That’s right, we had a +14% sales increase fourth quarter to fourth quarter from 2008 to 2009.

Sales picked up, but were still behind fourth quarter 2007.

“Buyers in the eight primary metropolitan Atlanta counties – Cherokee, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, and Paulding – bought 8222 houses between October, November and December last year.

In 2008, buyers bought 7214 houses and in 2007, buyers bought 8746 houses.

During the fourth quarter of 2009 signs appeared that a long-awaited recovery in detached residence sales may be happening. However, comparing the fourth quarter of 2009 to the fourth quarter of 2008, is like comparing apples and oranges.”

Here’s the complete article, my second article published for examiner.com…

Start with this – what exactly is “Housing and Urban Development?”

“HUD is the nation’s housing agency committed to sustaining homeownership; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development and enforces the nation’s fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.”

HUD issued some game changing guidelines recently for the underwriting of FHA loans, and the purpose of this article is to help you understand what this means for 2010 buyers and sellers of residential real estate.

Lets start with one of the simple game changes.

-  As of April 5th, 2010 FHA loan funded buyers need to change from 1.75% to 2.25% for their “FHA up front funding fee” on their contracts

What does this mean?

-  For every $100,000 in loan amount, it costs a buyer $500 more, up front

-  If  a buyer decides to roll this amount into their FHA loan, then it costs the buyer a little less than $3 dollars per month

OK, that’s fairly simple and easy to understand – since FHA is in federal receivership, they need to make a little extra money and we expect that they will shore up their financial status over the coming years…yeah, right…

What are the underlying reasons for this change and any other changes? How will this make a long term impact?

What will this mean when my daughter is ready for her first house?

I believe that it means that she better hope she’s a cash buyer in 2035 – cash will still be king!

FHA Announces Policy Changes to Address Risk and Strengthen Finances

New Measures Will Help FHA Better Manage Risk, While Maintaining Support for the Housing Market and Access for Underserved Communities

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